Daily Archives: March 9, 2018

I love sheet pan recipes because they’re easy to cook and to clean up. They’re almost always some combination of meat and veggies (protein, plus fiber and healthy carbs), so they tend to make for inherently balanced meals. Oh, and they’re equally easy to make meatless, if that’s your jam.

The recipes below are made on a single sheet pan, and they clock in at 500 calories or fewer per serving. To be clear, you don’t have to count calories to be healthy, and some people are better off ignoring calories altogether. Also, remember that everybody’s daily energy needs are different, depending on all kinds of factors like height, weight, lifestyle, medical history, and more.

Regardless of calories, these 15 recipes are easy and delicious, and they make for super easy cleanup. Next time you’d rather spend the evening cozied up on the couch while your dinner basically cooks itself, give one of these dinners a try. Feel free to add your favorite side dishes and garnishes, too!

Fudgy, thick, chocolaty sweet potato brownies — because baked goods can and should be a part of every dietary lifestyle, whether that’s vegan, gluten-free, or paleo.

With just six ingredients, minimal preparation time, and a quick bake in the oven, these sweet potato brownies are healthy and nutrient-packed, but still something perfectly sweet. The best part, of course, is that these brownies are free from animal products and grains.

Baking with Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are super versatile tubers. They can be mashed, roasted to perfection, baked, turned into quasi-toast, soup, curry, salads, and so, so much more.

A lesser-known use of this orange-hued beauty is to bake it into sweet treats and desserts. Like pumpkin and other forms of winter squash, sweet potato can easily be pureed and used as a baking ingredient. Rendering a creamy texture and subtly sweet taste, sweet potatoes work effortlessly in pies, cakes, muffins, cookies, and (life-changing) brownies.

In this sweet potato brownies recipe, sweet potatoes are peeled, chopped, and steamed until soft. They are then blended to form a thick and creamy purée, which acts as the base and binder of the brownies.

The sweet potato purée is then mixed with creamy cashew butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, coconut oil, and a pinch of sea salt for balance. If necessary, make recipe modifications depending on what ingredients you may have on hand. Cashew butter can be replaced with a different variety of nut or seed butter (almond, peanut, sesame, sunflower), while maple syrup can be swapped with honey (not vegan).

Specifically, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that is converted to vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is essential for immune function, healthy vision, and skin health. Just one cup of baked sweet potato provides more than 200 percent of this vital vitamin. Eat up!

Along with nutrients, sweet potatoes are filled with fiber, which is essential for moving things along in the digestive tract and lowering cholesterol in the process.

It is recommended that men consume 30 to 38 grams of fiber a day and 25 grams a day for women between 18 and 50 years old; 21 grams a day for women 51 and older. One cup of cooked sweet potato provides roughly five grams of fiber, which makes a delicious addition to the daily fiber quest.

Filled with nutrients, fiber, and a delicious taste, sweet potatoes are perfect brownie ingredients. With just one bite of these fudgey sweet potato brownies, you’ll agree, too.

Ingredients

2 medium size sweet potatoes (about 1 ½ cups sweet potato purée)

¾ cup cashew butter

⅓ cup maple syrup

½ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp coconut oil

¼ tsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a small baking tray with parchment paper.

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into large chunks. Steam in a steamer basket for 8-12 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Add sweet potatoes to a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth, creamy, and no chunks remain.

Kate is a Nutritionist with a Master’s of Nutrition from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon and the blogger and photographer of Vegukate. Kate believes in nourishing the whole body with real, vibrant foods that feed the mind, body, soul, gut, and every single little cell. Her philosophy is simple when it comes to food and nourishment: cut the processed junk, listen to your body, eat by the seasons, eat plates and bowls filled with color, stress less, and enjoy every single bite. When she’s not cooking in her too tiny Portland kitchen, Kate can be found perusing farmer’s markets, doing barre classes, hiking, reading, and exploring.